


They Don't Define You

by Callisto_HK



Series: The Children Are Our Future [6]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotionally Hurt Tony, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid Abby, Kid Fic, Kid Kate, Kid Tim, Kid Tony, Past Child Abuse, Tony Angst, Tony DiNozzo & Jethro Gibbs Father-Son Relationship, Tony-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-05-18 06:56:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14847918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callisto_HK/pseuds/Callisto_HK
Summary: Gibbs and Shannon love their kids; adopted or not! They both agree Tony and Abby are the best things that ever happened to them. It's just that, a kid with Tony's past tends to face hardship from more than one source and they need to tread carefully around him to show him he's loved, no matter what...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys; here is another totally unrelated story in this series.
> 
> In this one Kate and Tim are living with the Gibbs' for the time being and Tony is around 9.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this story, too and let me know what you think.  
> And I still own nothing but my mistakes and the plot of my stories!

**.**

**. They Don't Define You .**

**.**

"Tony? What are you doing here?" Gibbs asked as he entered his house and found his son in the living room, watching a movie on TV.

Tony looked at him, looked at the TV and then again at him, like he wasn't sure what kind of question that was. "Hi, Dad. I'm... Uh, watching TV?"

Gibbs snorted. "Yes, thank you, I can see that. I mean everyone else has gone to your friend's birthday party, right? Why are you _here_ and not there?" He was a bit afraid that Tony was again pulling back, not playing with other kids. He'd always pushed Tony a little to find friends because he knew it'd been hard for him at first. But after three years of him living there with them, he thought the problem was pretty much solved now.

Tony averted his eyes and bit his lip.

"Tony?" Gibbs prodded gently, with a hint of reproach in his tone.

"I wasn't invited." The kid finally replied.

"You-" Gibbs blinked. "What are you talking about? Of course you were invited."

Tony looked up and smiled bitterly. "No, I wasn't. Brian gave cards to everyone he wanted in his party; he gave one to Abby, one to Kate and one to Timmy."

"I'm sure he'd still want you-"

"Dad," Tony sighed and shook his head, suddenly looking way older than 9. "He didn't. And it's OK."

Gibbs was lost for words.

"Why are you home so early, anyway?" The boy tried to change the subject.

Gibbs shook his head to snap out of his thoughts. "It's Friday and we didn't have a case; even _we_ can get an early afternoon." He answered with a growl, like he was sorry for himself that they had to work such late hours sometimes. Sitting down on the couch by his son's side, he studied the kid for a couple of seconds from the corner of his eyes before once again asking, "So, you sure you weren't invited?"

Tony almost groaned when he realized they were back to that topic. "Well, pretty sure the lack of an invitation note says everything."

"Well, maybe he'd left it on your book or something and it's dropped down without you noticing."

Rolling his eyes, Tony said, "Dad, he came to the _house_ to give us our cards. Or well, to give the others their cards. We were all together when he handed the others their cards and acted like I wasn't even there."

Gibbs almost flinched at that. What the hell was wrong with kids, these days? "So, you're telling me that even Abby and the others knew you weren't invited?"

Tony looked up at the man beside him with a raised eyebrow. "They've been going on and on about it the whole week, Dad. Of course, they knew. Also, did you miss Kate's taunting and Tim's giggling every time the party was mentioned? They were pretty happy I wasn't invited."

"I figured you were all just happy to be going to this party." Gibbs mumbled, not believing he'd missed all the hints. "I think you're wrong about Tim and Kate, though; I'm sure they're sad you aren't there."

Tony snorted before he could stop himself but didn't comment. He knew better. The remarks those two had kept making had made it pretty clear what they thought and besides, if they actually cared, they either wouldn't go or at least wouldn't keep mentioning it in front of him, knowing he wasn't invited.

Apparently his dad had thought of the same thing, because he said, "Still, I suppose they could've at least stopped talking about it if they knew." He also thought that if it was the other way around, Tony'd probably not go _at all_ when one of his siblings hadn't been invited; he probably wouldn't go to show his dissatisfaction for seeing a sibling excluded from an event and to show that the uninvited sibling or friend wasn't alone even if she or he hadn't been invited to some stupid party.

"Any idea why you were excluded?" He had to ask because as far as he knew, Brian was Tony's friend; it was strange that he was the only one not invited when even Timmy was.

Shrugging, Tony said, "I think it's because of how I look."

Blinking with confusion, Gibbs looked down at his son with a frown. "What's wrong with your look?"

"Well, thankfully nothing's wrong with my _face_." Tony chuckled; although it did sound a bit off. "I mean imagine what everyone would do if I had a scar here, too." He pointed to the general area of his face. "They'd probably think I'm a criminal." He said those words so lightly that if Gibbs didn't know better, he'd think the kid was actually finding it funny.

"I'm lost, son. What are you talking about?"

"It all happened after that pool thing."

"What pool thing?"

"Uh, remember about two months ago? When Abby wanted to go to the pool and you made me go, too?"

"So?"

"So, I didn't want to go for a _reason_." Tony sighed. "And I told you why back then and you still made me go because you think I shouldn't be ashamed of what's happened to me."

Gibbs frowned. Now he remembered. "I still stand by my words. What's happened to you and leaving you with those scars wasn't your fault, Tony and even someone made a mistake and was somehow left with some scars on their bodies, they shouldn't hide and let those scars rule their lives. You shouldn't let some scars define you."

"Yeah, that's what you said back then, too." Tony sighed; feeling a bit frustrated; because adults always said things like that and used words that usually meant nothing or didn't work in the real world; ' _not let them define him?_ ' Well, it wasn't exactly up to him; people looked and people talked and people decided they didn't want him around because of those scars.

Gibbs was still lost, though. "OK, and that's related to this how?"

"Daaaad!" Tony almost whined, sometimes he had to explain every single thing to this man. "There were other kids at the pool. Brian for example. They saw my back and they all started to talk. I know because I overheard some of them; now they just don't wanna be around me and those who hadn't actually seen my body, still stay away because other kids have told them about me. They all stay away now. Nobody wants to play with someone like me. I'm a freak."

"No you're not." Gibbs snapped, sounding frantic.

"Well, they think I am." Tony said with a shrug. He'd explained the whole thing so nonchalantly that it hurt to even listen to him. "It's OK, Dad. Don't worry about it." He smiled kindly and turned his attention back to the TV.

"Tony-" Gibbs wanted to say it's not OK, but he didn't know how he could convince him.

"Really, it's OK. I'm used to it." He shrugged again. "I never had a friend before either. It's alright." He smiled again, which turned into a grin, "besides, watching Batman while having popcorn is way cooler than going to a party." His eyes though were telling a different story; Tony might have mastered the art of hiding his feelings and keeping his voice steady while talking about things that bothered him, but his eyes still showed how hurt his soul was.

So, no, it wasn't cool to be excluded from a party and Gibbs knew Tony was saying that for his sake and wasn't that just sad? The 9 year old boy was covering his hurt for the sake of the grownup. Gibbs was mad at those kids who were treating his son this way; he wanted to be mad at his own children, too; well, Kate and Tim weren't his exactly, but they were living there with them for the time being, so he could call them his if he wanted to and he did want to be mad at them, but they were kids and Gibbs didn't think they actually understood the depth of the problem here.

They were actually kids; none of them had lived through life-changing experience like Tony had, being forced to think and act like an adult in order to survive. He couldn't expect every kid to understand things that Tony did, even if they were older than Tony, like Kate was. Besides, it wasn't exactly a secret that Kate was bitter and harsh to Tony because she felt he could take it and that he deserved it for being a boy. She was rarely hard on Tim, because the boy would burst into tears for pretty much any reason which made him a baby in her eyes and unworthy of her real attention; but Tony stood his ground and while Kate liked it, she still felt he was the kind of boy who needed to know girls were stronger and better than boys.

As for little Tim; well, he actually didn't seem to have a definite side; whichever side was heavier, he'd go there, just like a ball rolling around; and he seemed to be a bit envious of Tony because Tony got to live with his mom and Dad while he had to stay away from them and since Tony was so strong that he'd always take care of his own needs and never had to ask for help, Tim seemed to feel even more jealous. And for those reasons, he enjoyed it when Kate could hurt Tony with her words or whenever they seemed to have the upper hand.

God, kids these days! Gibbs was pretty sure it hadn't been this complicated when _he_ had been a kid, but then again, he had grown up in a pretty normal and ordinary environment. His house, today, with the kids from different backgrounds and different problems was anything but normal.

**.**

**.**

**TBC ...**

**.**


	2. Chapter 2

A few hours later, Shannon entered the house; kids, screaming and babbling all at the same time, followed her to the kitchen. She'd picked them up on her way home from the hospital and the thoughtful look on her face said that she wasn't actually listening to what the kids were saying. But the children either didn't notice it or didn't care; because they kept talking as loudly as they could without it become shouting; and still all at the same time!

"Hey, boys." She smiled when she spotted her husband and her son in the kitchen. "I see you've started without us."

"See, son? This is how grateful she is when we make dinner so she wouldn't have to." Gibbs joked as he rolled his eyes.

Tony chuckled and let his mom hug him and as Gibbs watched, she whispered something in his ear and the boy shrugged, smiled and said something like ' _It's OK.'_

That made Gibbs deduce that whatever was on Shannon's mind had something to do with Tony and since he was an investigator and solved mysteries for a living, he was sure it also had something to do with him being absent from the party.

"Oh, hey, Tony." Kate's voice interrupted his thoughts and he looked away from Shannon. "Hey, Gibbs."

"Hi." He gave the girl a small smile and then bent down to kiss Abby who'd suddenly appeared at his side, hugging his legs. "Hey, baby girl. Hey, Tim." He looked at the little boy who smiled and waved back.

"Daddy, the party was soooo greaaaat." Abby restarted her babbling.

But Kate looked at Tony and addressed him, instead. "Yes, Tony. It was great. We had so much fun. The cake was so delicious, too."

"Yes, yes." Tim chimed in. "It was chocolate cake with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting. It was so good."

That was Tony's favorite, and everyone knew that. While giving half an ear to Abby's babbling, Shannon and Jethro exchanged a look and then turned their attention to Tony to see what he was doing. The boy was smiling; however, it seemed forced and tight as the other two kids kept mentioning every amazing food they'd had and the games they'd played and all the fun they'd had. Kate even repeated some parts and kept repeating her words.

"You have no idea how good it was." She smiled and if Gibbs and Shannon wanted to be honest, they'd say she was outright sneering. "Right, guys?"

"Definitely. We even got presents. They gave us these cool T-shirts." Tim showed his as Kate held up her own. Tim's had the Batman's sign on its front and the picture of the batmobile on the back, while Kate's T-shirt had signs of Superwoman.

"That's... Uh, great." Tony was still smiling, but the truth was he was hurting on the inside, no matter how many times he'd said it was cool and he didn't mind not going, it still hurt and at that moment he just wanted to run to his room and hide from everyone else so he wouldn't hear how great that stupid party had been. The truth was Brian was supposed to be _his_ friends; Kate and Tim hadn't even been there when Tony had met Brian for the first time and Tony had even saved him from bullies, but now Brian was scared of him, like every other kids and they didn't want to talk to a freak like him.

At the mention of the T-Shirts, Abby suddenly looked upset. "I really wanted to bring you one, too, Tony; but Brian didn't give me one; so I give him back my own shirt, as well. I didn't want it if you couldn't have one, too."

"Oh!" Tony looked surprised and this time he smiled genuinely; "Thanks, Abbs; but you shouldn't have given yours back. It's cool."

"I didn't want it." Abby repeated her words. "It's not cool."

But then Kate rolled her eyes and said; "I don't get it; they were nice to invite us; you shouldn't have given the present back; besides, it's rude."

"Oh, but what you did was nice and polite?" Gibbs couldn't take it anymore. Earlier, he'd doubted a little if Tony had got it right when he'd mentioned that the other kids were happy he hadn't been invited, because seriously, siblings were supposed to have each other's back; not be vicious like that; he'd thought that maybe problems seemed worse in the world of a child and things hadn't been as bad as his son had imagined; however; now he could see that he'd given those kids too much credit and he needed to fix a few things now or they'd think it's alright to mistreat Tony whenever they desired.

Now he could clearly see that his son had a point and it hurt him to see how hard his boy was trying to keep smiling.

"What?" Kate looked shocked at hearing those words; but honestly, at that moment, Gibbs couldn't care all that much.

"OK. Enough with the talk about that party." He announced, not clarifying what he'd said to the young girl. "We've made lasagna, but since you three have had so much food and dessert, you should go wash your teeth and just go to bed; we'll be by to say goodnight in a bit."

"What?" Kate's eye widened. "It's just 8 and it's the weekend."

"You've been up and around since 7 in the morning and you haven't had a nap today. So, bed! Now!" Gibbs ordered firmly.

"But I like lasagna." She whined again and Tim followed. "Me, too."

"Can we have a little bit please?" Abby asked from where she was sitting on the counter.

"We'll save a bit for you so you can have it tomorrow." Shannon conceded to calm them down. "It's really not good to eat too much food before bed." She knew what her husband was doing, but they couldn't do that with the food; dessert, on the other hand, was another story. She smirked with herself. "OK, shoo. Go get ready for bed." Acting like the kids weren't there anymore, she turned to her husband and son. "So, since it's Friday night, what do you say I quickly make a pie and have some chocolate ice cream with it for the dessert?"

Gibbs had to fight to hold back the smirk that was threatening to break out. "Sounds amazing. All this talk about food and cake has made me hungry. What do you say, Tony?"

"Pie and Ice cream?" Abby whined this time, followed by Kate, who indignantly said, "Hey, why do you have to make it tonight? Why not tomorrow? We want some, too. It's not fair."

Tim merely nodded his head vigorously, looking at the fridge like the ice cream would come out to him if he looked hard.

"You were all ranting about all the amazing food you've had at the party; there's only so much sweet you're allowed to take in one week and you sure have had your share for this week. So while you can have lasagna tomorrow, no dessert or ice cream or cookies or anything for you three this week. I don't want you any more hyper than you already are and we sure don't want three sick kids in the house. And that's totally fair that we have some dessert, too since you three have had it at that party." Shannon explained as she stared down at Kate. "Please, go get ready for bed, now."

Before the three kids could protest again, Tony spoke. "We can have it next week instead. That way they can have some, too."

Abby's face lit up. "Yes, pleaaaaase. Please. Please."

Both Shannon and Jethro were flabbergasted at Tony's big heart; they knew he knew the kids had been having fun at his expense with the way they were talking about the great time they'd had at the party, yet, he was still willing to wait to have one of his favorite desserts, so that the others could have some, too.

"I think they'll be fine, son." Shannon faked a laugh and ushered the kids out of the kitchen. "Go, all of you. You three have had your fun for tonight; it's time the rest of us had some fun, too."

"But-"

"But what?" She interrupted Tim quickly, giving him a stern look which made the little boy close his mouth abruptly.

"Is Tony going to bed, soon, too?" Kate asked petulantly.

"That, young lady, is none of your business." And while she said that with a smile, the scolding didn't sound any less biting. "Abby, seems like you're the wise one, tonight. Make sure the others do their things and go to bed, quickly."

Abby, who loved being given important tasks, cheered up instantly and nodded her head, "OK, Mommy. Good night."

That, consequently, raised groans out of the other two kids. Abby didn't care, though; she was determined to do the job she was given. So, looking back into the kitchen, she said, "Good night, Daddy. Good night, Tony. I really missed you there, tonight. I'm glad you're going to have fun, now." She smiled brightly and marched up the stairs, yelling at the other two kids to hurry up and follow her.

Tim was still pouting and stuck his tongue out at Tony and quickly ran away when he heard a growl and saw the glare Gibbs was sending his way for his action, knowing that he was probably gonna pay for it later. Kate stood there a moment longer, glaring at Tony like it was his fault that they had to go to bed early.

"Kate?"

"I'm not tired." She finally sighed.

"Then lie in your bed and read a book, or I don't know, think about your actions and behavior, until you get tired; whatever you do, you'd better be in that bed in 10 minutes. You've done way more than enough for one day and I don't like to repeat myself, honey." Shannon reminded the girl kindly, but she was firm and her eyes along with her slight frown showed she wasn't exactly happy with the way the girl was behaving and the way she was looking at Tony.

"Fine." The young girl gritted out and sending one more angry glare Tony's way, she stomped away before the adults could actually say something about her behavior; thinking with herself that she's gotten away with it.

**.**

**.**

**TBC ...**

**.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've realized that I've never actually mentioned anything about the date in which these stories are taking place, merely because I thought the hints that I've given were enough and probably because I thought you guys could read my mind; sorry about that. What I'm trying to say here is that these stories are taking place around the time when the 4 kids of this story were actually kids which would make it sometime before 1980 for this particular story (I know in reality Kate is not older than Tony, though; I did make some minor changes based on what I needed for these stories). So, as you all know, many things were different back then compared to what we have now and what we expect from a parent nowadays. Keep that in mind and maybe it'll become easier to accept why Gibbs and Shannon don't always get involved in the kids' fights and disputes and why they behave the way they do.

"I'm really not that hungry." Tony tried to get out of his parents' way and avert their minds from the whole dessert thing, but neither of the grownups were having it.

"You helped me with the lasagna, there's no way you're not eating it." Gibbs wasn't going to accept his son's request to leave. "Unless..." He paused, "Did you add something to it when I wasn't looking?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know; sugar?"

Tony's eyebrows rose and then he wrinkled his nose. "Why would I do that?"

Shannon chuckled behind him. "Because he's done so himself."

"He's added sugar to lasagna?" Tony whirled around, "Why? Did you mistake it for salt?"

His mother snorted. "No; it was his idea of a prank. We've just gotten married and had lots of prank wars and well, can you say you're surprised if I say I've always been better?" She asked gleefully.

"You guys had _prank wars_? For real?" Tony couldn't believe his ears. His parents were seriously the _coolest_.

"Oh, only the best kinds." Gibbs said with a faraway look in his eyes, like he was missing those wars.

"So you added sugar to her lasagna?"

"Yes, he did. And then he said he was feeling sick and refused to eat it himself and -"

"And you did?"

"Only the first time!" Shannon sighed, accepting the defeat. "But from then on, anyone who refuses to eat something they've made, we know they've probably added something wrong to it."

"But I haven't. I swear." Tony stated innocently.

Both Jethro and Shannon burst into laughter and as Jethro ruffled the kid's hair, Shannon said, "Oh, we know, honey and please, don't take that as an invitation." She looked at him with mock horror and then added. "But you're gonna eat dinner with us, anyway. And then we _will_ have dessert. We deserve to have our share of fun. I had a _long_ boring day."

"Me, too." Gibbs nodded.

"Not me." Tony grinned and when the parents looked at him skeptically, he said, "What? I watched lots of movies. They were great."

"So you refuse to have fun with us because you've watched some movies? You're abandoning your old parents because of that?"

"You're not old!" Tony rolled his eyes. "And I'm not... I'm... It's just..." His shoulders dropped. "I just don't like excluding the others."

"They've had their fun. Don't worry; they know it's our turn." Shannon reassured him. "Didn't you hear Abby? She, too, knows it's our turn to enjoy the night.

"As for Tim and Kate; if they don't understand, well it's their problem." Gibbs added, "We're not exactly happy with them for the way they've been behaving and they're gonna know it and they'll learn they can't treat my kids this way."

Tony was secretly pleased to hear how his parents had his back and even though he didn't want the other kids' feelings hurt, he was happy to know he wasn't all alone here. During the recent years, his new mom and dad had proved many times that they'd be in his corner no matter what, but he'd learned in his first home to never get his hopes up and never expect the others to be there for him; and letting go of those lessons were harder than learning he wasn't alone anymore.

They wisely didn't talk about the party from which Tony had been excluded during the whole dinner and even when they sat on the couch to watch a movie together, they kept their commentaries related to the movie. Oh, they wanted to address the whole thing, but they didn't want to ruin the night for Tony. They hadn't preplanned a night like this; but that didn't mean now that they'd simultaneously decided to make this night as special for Tony as it had been for the other kids, they'd want to ruin it by a painful talk.

Around midnight, when they finally sent Tony to get ready for bed, they had a quick talk about the situation and decided to have a short talk with Tony before he was properly tucked in; so they both went to his room.

Tony, who'd prepared himself for his parents to talk to him about not being wanted by the other kids, wasn't surprised when they finally came to his room. But before they could say anything, he spoke up. "I know what you wanna say; but please don't. I'm really OK. Like I told Dad, this is not the first time that I haven't been invited to a party; I don't even like parties all that much."

"Son, it's still not alright. What those kids are doing to you is not right and I know you're trying to not think about it and be cool about it, but we know it still hurts." Gibbs said, not letting his son hide his true feelings.

"Because it'd hurt _us_ if it happened to us and we're adults."

"I'm not a kid." Tony protested.

"Well, age-wise you're only 9." Shannon pointed out with a smile. "And it hurts _us_ that our son had been treated this way."

Sighing, Tony gave in. "OK. But do you think speaking with _me_ changes anything? I'm not the one who pushes them away; I know I'm the one with problem and the-"

"You better not say that word again." Gibbs stopped him. "You're not a freak, Tony."

"Whatever." The boy sighed, feeling bad when he saw how his mom winced when she realized what he'd meant to say.

"OK, first of all; your dad is right; you're not a freak; would you think that way if another kid had some scars? Or, worse, if you saw a kid who was missing a limb?" Shannon asked gently; "Because as painful as it is, I see a lot of that where I work."

Tony winced, realizing that he would hate it if another kid was treated so poorly for just looking differently. "Of course not."

"There you go." She said triumphantly. "So, _you_ don't have a problem. _They_ do, for thinking that way. Second; we know it's not your fault, but we also know it's affecting you. So, we were thinking..." She glanced at her husband and at his nod, she continued, "There are options for you."

"Options?"

"Ways to remove those scars." She suggested quietly; "We still believe you shouldn't be ashamed of them and that they don't define you; if anything they show how strong you are; but we don't want them to affect you or make you feel like an outcast."

"There's plastic surgery." Gibbs added, in case Tony hadn't gotten what Shannon had been meaning to say; but the look of surprise on Tony's face told him that he'd gotten it.

"I..." The boy paused and shook his head. "You want me to have a surgery?" He asked quietly.

"Oh, no, honey!" Shannon shook her head quickly. "It's not what _we_ want. We're saying that we can make that happen if _you_ want us to. For us, those scars or anything else, won't change who you are. You're our amazing, strong and brave son and we're so proud of you."

Gibbs nodded his agreement and said, "But what happened today; or better to say, what's apparently been going on these past two months- that you haven't even mentioned before today-" he said the last part sadly, "Is not fair to you. So if _you_ want, we can make it happen. We want you to be happy." He shrugged; even though they knew that as Tony grew older, those scars would become less visible, and even though they didn't like the idea of their son on an operating table, they'd still go for it if it was the thing to make Tony feel better about himself.

Tony studied their faces carefully, looking for any sign that this was what _they_ wanted, but finding none he quietly shook his head.

"You don't want it?" Shannon asked. "Are you scared of the surgery?"

Tony again shook his head, but then paused. "Well, maybe a little." He confessed. "But... I... You don't have a problem with them?"

"Your scars?" Shannon frowned and at Tony's shy nod, she shook her head. "No problem at all. Well, that's not true, we do have a problem that you've suffered so much because of that man and that you have to carry the reminders of it now. We do have a problem with the fact that you got them in the first place; because you deserve so much better; but that's it. No matter what, those scars are not affecting how you look or who you are; you're still beautiful, inside and out."

Tony's face wrinkled. "Mom. I'm not _beautiful_." He whined but then smiled shyly, "Thank, though."

"Fine, handsome." She chuckled.

"OK, so, um. No. I don't think I wanna fix them this way. It doesn't really matter to me. I think you two are right, if someone is my true friend they won't change their mind because my back is ugly."

"Not ugly." Gibbs growled; he wondered how long he had to correct his son for his self-doubt and self-deprecating words to go away. "But you're right, true friend see beyond physical problems."

"And there's no guarantee they'll like me if I don't have them, anymore, either." The boy sighed. "I mean Kate and Tim have decided they don't like me and they haven't even seen my back."

"Tony!" Shannon's eyes widened. "They do like you."

Tony didn't say a word, he just raised one eyebrow... And seriously, if he could make one aware of their mistakes with that simple gesture at age 9; what would he do when he turned 30?

Feeling a bit self-conscious under Tony's look, she amended. "Really, they do. They just feel competitive."

"What? But we don't even live together all the time! Why would they feel that way?"

"Don't ask me why. I just know rivalry when I see it." Shannon shrugged; she knew jealousy was probably another reason for their behavior; but she didn't want to mention it. "Just give them some time and you'll see."

Tony was smart enough not to argue about something like that; it wouldn't change anything anyway. So he just shrugged; he felt he already knew how things would go, no matter how much time he gave them; but he also felt that despite what Shannon was saying, she knew it, too and she'd probably do something about it; something he'd rather not know about.

"We're proud of you, Tony. Of how strong you are and how you treat the others and how you care about them each and every day." Gibbs patted his son's shoulder. "But if you ever changed your mind, just let us know. We've got your back whatever you decide."

Somehow, that comment, more than anything else, gave him hope and energy. He nodded his head in thanks, but he knew he wouldn't change his mind; because with parents like that, he knew he could overcome any obstacle in life. And besides, he kinda thought of his scars as a reminder of his past. He didn't want them removed, because they reminded him of a day that he didn't think anyone would miss him if he ran away and hid in the jungles and mountains for the rest of his life. He didn't feel that way anymore and he was happy about it and he wanted to remember that he was lucky now, even though he hadn't had a good childhood in his first house.

Kissing their son goodnight, the parents left the room. Outside, they shared a relieved smile and Gibbs put an arm around his beautiful wife and led her downstairs. "We really got lucky in that department."

"Amen." She agreed easily. "Now, we just gotta find a way to teach the lesson to those two that aren't ours!"

"Joy!" Gibbs muttered sarcastically.

"I know." She sighed. "But I think it's time we did something, I love those two kids, but I can't let them hurt our son anymore. Kate gotta learn her snarky remarks are not accepted here."

"Tell me about it." The man snarled. "Let me know when you've decided to do something about it."

"Oh, we've already started to do something about it." Shannon smirked.

"We did?" Gibbs frowned for a second before getting it. "Oh, you mean the whole _'you had your fun now it's our turn_ ' thing?"

"Genius, huh?" She laughed.

"Well, we'll keep this up and in no time, she'll learn that she can't take her insecurities on our son and make him feel miserable."

"And we won't even need to give her a lecture." Shannon pointed out happily. "Not that I won't do it if I see she's refusing to learn."

Nodding his agreement, Gibbs said, "And if Tim keeps going this way, then we have to send him back to his parents; I won't let them bully Tony like this; especially since Tony's scared to retaliate the same way."

"I'm gonna talk to Brian's mom, tomorrow;" Shannon sighed; "I wonder whether she knew why Brian had refused to invite Tony to his party."

"I don't think Tony'd like you to tell her the reason. If she knew the real reason, I know she wouldn't have let this happen."

"I still gotta talk to her; she gotta understand that it's not nice to invite all my kids except one." She growled. "I won't tell her anything about Tony; but I can't just let this go. Maybe if she knows, she'd do something about Brian's behavior."

"You're such an amazing mom; you know that?"

"Gee; thanks!" Chuckling, she walked to the kitchen and said, "What do you say we have some more lasagna?"

Arching an eyebrow, Gibbs said, "Didn't you promise them to let them have some of it tomorrow?"

"Oh, I made no _promises_. I just told them we'd leave them some. But we can't help it if we got hungry in the middle of the night and had to finish it. I'm sure they can wait another few weeks for it and have something else instead for lunch. It's not like that if there's no lasagna they'd go hungry!"

"You're evil." Gibbs laughed. "I love that."

"I've got my moments." She shrugged and sat down in front of the food and dug in, laughing as her husband shrugged and followed her lead.

Yep; in no time, she'd have the other kids just as well-trained as her husband and they'd learn that in her house they wouldn't get to be bullies and get away with it.

**.**

**.**

**... To Be Concluded!**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Epilogue is coming... Hope you've enjoyed this one.
> 
> .
> 
> .
> 
> And I still own nothing but my mistakes and the plot of my stories!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said the last chapter was the last one for this story-line; but the comments asking me to add to it made me realize that, for at least once, you need to see how they'll deal with Kate, as well.
> 
> So, here's a longish epilogue of some sort. Hope you like it.

"Don't put it there!"

Tony was startled by the angry voice and turned around to find Kate with her hands on her hip, starting at him with fire in her eyes. "What?"

"I said don't put your stupid book there." She snapped again.

Looking down at the book that he had been about to put on the kitchen counter, Tony frowned, "Why?" He'd just wanted to put it there for a second to get a glass of water; he didn't understand what was wrong with that.

"Why?" Kate growled, "Because you put your stuff everywhere and because that book is dirty and because-"

"Excuse me!" Shannon's voice put a stop to her ranting.

Kate, finding Shannon in the doorway relaxed her posture, dropping her hands from her hip. "Yes?"

"Are you by any chance one of the parents in this house, Kate?" Shannon asked cordially.

"Um, no?" Kate looked confused.

"Did I put you in charge? Or did Jethro do it when I wasn't around to hear it?" She asked seriously to make sure the girl wasn't acting on her husband's behalf; because then the problem would be twofold.

"Ah, no. Why?"

Tony, unlike Kate, seemed to have gotten what was going on, because he was biting his lip to keep the smirk away; Kate was going to be all red-faced soon when she realized what Shannon was getting at and Tony kinda found it funny when she looked that red.

"Did I ask for your help to clean the house?" Shannon kept asking. "Besides the usual chores, I mean."

Kate shook her head; all the air of confidence disappearing from around her.

"And I didn't ask for your advice either; right?"

"Ah, no?"

"Then why do you think it's alright to walk around the house and snap at people for doing something as normal as putting their books on a surface?"

There; the red face had started to appear; Kate was catching up. Finally! "I... I was just-"

"You were just what, Kate?"

"I was just trying to be helpful; you do all the work around here and Tony'd just mess it up and I figured I could help." She tried to be firm and confident, but even she knew she was sounding far from it.

"First of all, Tony actually helps me with the house chores when I ask him, Kate." Shannon looked at her disapprovingly; "Last week _you_ made Abby do your work and when she refused to do it again you made Tim do it. Don't think I haven't noticed, young girl."

Swallowing, Kate averted her gaze.

"Second of all," Shannon went on, "Tony's our son and as one of the adults of this house, it's _my_ job to say what goes where and as far as we are concerned, we don't care all that much where he puts his stuff. This is his house, too." She pointed out. "Besides; this is a _house_ ; not a hospital; there's no need to be all sterilized."

"May I go to my room, please?" Kate asked through clenched teeth.

"Did I sound like I was done with you?" Shannon asked with a raised eyebrow.

Glancing at Tony, Kate frowned and then looked away; she didn't like the idea of being chastised in front of him.

Shannon, reading the kid's eyes, said, "You should've thought about it when you made Tony the target of your anger, Kate. I let it go the last three times; thought you'd snap out of it and we saw Tony was handling it well. But enough is enough. What did Jethro and I say to you the last time you kept snapping at Tony for no reason?"

Kate gulped, but she didn't say anything; she was actually feeling embarrassed.

"I asked you a question."

"Maybe I should go?" Tony asked quietly when he realized this was getting more serious than he'd thought at first; he didn't want to be there for a dressing down because he knew if he'd been in Kate's shoes he wouldn't want a witness.

Sighing, Shannon bit her lip before smiling at her amazingly understanding son. She nodded her head and murmured a _"love ya"_ when Tony was passing her to leave the kitchen.

Once they were alone, Shannon began again; "Would you have done that if your roles were reversed?"

Kate looked at her from under her eyelashes.

"What Tony did... Would you have done the same for him? Would you have left if Jethro or I were talking to him about a mistake he'd made?" She knew the answer to that question and so did Kate; no, she wouldn't have left unless she was ordered to; she'd think it was too much fun to miss. Shannon sighed again. "I remember we asked you the last time, too, Kate; what's your problem with Tony?"

And just like the last time, she didn't have an answer, so she stayed quiet.

"Do you hate him?"

The girl's head snapped up and she shook her head.

Shannon knew she was telling the truth; she'd seen the look of worry on her face when Tony had screamed one night, caught in his nightmares and unable to find his way out. "I know you don't." She conceded. "So what is it?"

She shrugged.

"Use words, Kate. You seemed to be perfectly good at it when you were snapping at Tony this morning and a few minutes ago."

"I don't know." Her chin trembled.

"Is it that you just need an outlet and he's the perfect target?"

"It's not like he doesn't fight back when we fight or listens to me when I tell him to do things."

"He doesn't listen because there's no need to take orders from _you_." Shannon had to remind the little girl that she wasn't in charge there. "So what? You just like the challenge?"

Kate sighed and looked away.

"I ask you again, what did we say to you last month when you were again snapping at Tony for no reason? What did we tell you when you kept bringing up that birthday party, knowing he was hurt for not being invited?"

"You said you'd send me and Tim back to our parents if we didn't stop being brats." Kate said quietly.

"Then why did you start again?"

"Are you going to send me back?"

Shannon was about to repeat her question when suddenly a new thought occurred to her; did Kate _want_ to go back? Did she think this would be the way? That if she behaved this way they'd send her back and she'd be with her family again? Deliberately letting go of some of the tension in her body, Shannon walked to a chair and sat down, "Come here, Kate." She pulled a chair out for Kate.

The girl obeyed quietly and sat down in front of Shannon.

"Kate, look at me." Shannon ordered gently and when Kate looked up, she asked, "Do you _want_ to go back? Do you miss your parents that much?"

The girl looked surprised, she shook her head, then nodded, then shook her head again and finally her shoulders dropped and a sob escaped her throat.

"Oh, honey!" Shannon sank to the floor; kneeling in front of Kate, she pulled her into a hug and let her cry until she calmed down. "You better?"

Kate pulled back and nodded.

"Katie, you talk to your mom and dad every night; you know they love you and they miss you; if you need to see them so badly, just tell them, or tell _us_ and we'll arrange for you to go and see them; you don't have to keep it to yourself or find a creative way to have that." She paused. "You certainly don't need to hurt Tony to have that."

"I... I don't... I didn't-"

"You wanna try a full sentence? I know I'm trying but I'm still not that good at reading minds." She smiled down at her.

Kate cracked a shaky smile before taking a deep breath.

"You don't _what_ , honey?" Shannon prodded.

"I didn't mean to hurt him."

"You sure?" Shannon frowned; "because I doubt you'd have another reason. I just don't know whether you did it so we'd keep our words and send you back to your parents or you did it so that Tony would be hurt, too, now that you are hurting."

Kate wasn't so sure herself, either. She was just nine and everything was confusing. "I'm sorry I made the others do my chores." She said instead.

"That's not what we're talking about now, Kate." Shannon reminded her. They were kids; of course she knew somehow they'd find a way to shrug off their so-called duties of the day.

"I'll apologize to him?"

"Oh, make sure you do that;" Shannon encouraged, "But you're not leaving this kitchen until you tell me what's going on with you. If we don't understand the real problem, this will keep happening and I'm sure none of us would want that, right?"

Kate shrugged.

"Do you wanna be with your parents so bad, Kate?"

When Kate didn't answer, Shannon frowned; what was the problem if this wasn't why Kate was acting out?

"Do you wanna go see them?"

Kate shrugged.

"Kate; don't be like Tim. Please say what you want. I'm begging you." Shannon sounded both joking and serious.

Finally Kate looked up and stared at her pseudo-mom; because she'd kinda been a mother to her for a while now and she loved her; she loved all of them here and she had to tell them that but she wasn't sure how to do it. "I miss my mom and dad;"

"I'm sensing a 'but'?" Shannon prodded when Kate paused with hesitation.

"I _want_ to see them."

"OK, we can arrange that. But again with that 'but'!"

"I don't wanna go _back_."

"Then..." Shannon frowned; "OK, you're so not helping me here. Let me get this straight... You miss your parents and you wanna see them?" She asked and when Kate nodded, Shannon continued, "But you don't wanna go back to them?" This time Shannon watched as the little girl shook her head no, "Then what? You want _them_ to come here?" At the confused look she got from her, she realized that it hadn't even crossed the girl's mind and it wasn't the whole traveling that was bothering her and suddenly it clicked. "Ohhhh!" Her eyes widened. "You just don't wanna go back."

Kate looked down, her cheeks red with shame.

"Heeeey," Shannon put two fingers under her chin and gently brought her head up, "You don't need to feel bad for that."

"But they're my parents." Kate said quietly.

"And it's OK if you wanna stay in a place where there are kids your age to play with. That's why they agreed to leave you here, in the first place."

"But I-"

"Look, even when your mom is all better and healthy, you have a home with us here; you don't have to worry about that. I know for a fact that they are planning to move to this town when your mom is better so that you can be near us."

"Really?" Kate's eyes shone with hope.

"Yeaah. But... Don't let them know I've ruined their surprise. OK?" She widened her eyes.

Kate chuckled. "OK."

"So, this is it? You just didn't wanna leave?"

When Kate shrugged and looked away, Shannon frowned again.

"But why would you act this way, then? Why would you do exactly what we asked you not to do? Why hurt Tony?" Shannon again didn't get a response. She sighed, this mom-slash-psychologist-slash-mind reader thing was sometimes too hard to handle. "Kate; you remember we said Tony is our son and this is his home and he's always gonna be here, right?"

Kate looked up and frowned, but then nodded; not sure what Shannon meant.

"He's not going anywhere; _because_ he's our son; just like you're your parents' daughter." They'd explained this to Kate before, that just because they weren't Tony's and Abby's biological parents, it didn't mean they weren't their real family; but maybe Kate still hadn't gotten it.

"Well, of course." Kate responded with confusion.

"Then why do you do what you do?" Shannon threw her hands in the air; feeling completely lost.

"I..." She looked down and mumbled something Shannon couldn't hear.

"Uhhh, what?"

"Iwishhewasmybrother." She said louder, but still too jumbled for Shannon to get.

"What was that?"

"Ugh!" Kate growled. "I wish he was my brother."

"Were..." Shannon corrected unconsciously before frowning; "What? What do you mean? "

"I just wish I had a brother like him." She sighed.

"And so you're mean to him?" The young mother, of course, knew how kids hurt each other when they liked each other; but to this point? And when they wished to be sibling? Especially when they already _were_ sibling?

"Well..."

"I just don't get it. He already _is_ your brother."

"But he's not!" Kate leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Don't you get it? He's your son; and I'm not really your daughter and this is his family and I'm not really his sister like Abby is and I wish I was... Were!" She was frustrated and things were finally pouring out of her mouth; "I wish it could be real. I wish... I... He... He's cool and... He's annoying, yes, but he's nice and he takes care of Abby and he loves Abby so much and I just wish..." Tears were once again gathering in her eyes and Shannon was finally understanding it.

Her eyes softened. "Honey, I told you that no matter where you are and no matter what, you have a home with us. That means Tony _is_ your brother in a way." She cupped her small face in her hand.

Kate nodded quietly; "But, when I leave..." She trailed off; she felt that when she left, she'd just become a friend; someone they'd _probably_ be happy to have around from time to time, but it wouldn't be like now; it wouldn't be like how Tony and Abby are together and she was jealous of them.

"If that's what you want, he'll always be your brother, Kate." Shannon smiled knowingly, "We both know that Tony will always be there for you, too, like he is for Abby. He's just that kinda boy; don't you agree?" She raised an eyebrow. "So you're mean to him because you're jealous?" Shannon asked and when Kate flinched, she knew she'd nailed it. "Oh... You kids!" She chuckled; "Give him a chance, Kate. Drop the tough girl act a bit and try to be a sister to him and you'll see how protective of you he already is. Because let me tell you; he's already there for you; you just have chosen not to see it, because I guess you're afraid if you let it sink in, then you'll feel more hurt when you have to leave. Am I right?"

The corners of the kid's lips were down as she nodded.

"But you're already hurting, Kate." Shannon reminder her. "So why don't you try my way now? I mean you tried yours and it didn't work; try mine and see for yourself that you'll hurt less." ' _And Tony will hurt less, too!'_ Shannon's mind added but she didn't voice it. "I mean he did leave earlier because he didn't want you to be embarrassed in front of him. Didn't he? That's the kind of things a loving brother does."

Kate looked up a bit, feeling even worse when she remembered earlier when Shannon had asked whether she'd do the same for Tony or not and she'd thought that no, she wouldn't have left. So, maybe Shannon was right; maybe Tony was already there for her and she just didn't wanna believe it because she was scared? She needed to learn to be a sister; she just didn't know how to do that and she said as much to Shannon.

"Just watch Abby." Shannon laughed quietly; "Watch Abby and you'll learn how to be a sister, honey." She stood up. "Now, I believe you have a brother you need to apologize to." She winked and as Kate nodded, once again looking ashamed, she said, "don't forget what I said, let him show you he cares." She started to leave the kitchen, but then paused and said, "And you'll be doing everyone's chores for a week, young girl. That's for making them do your job for you before; and you'll be doing Tony's chores for another week after that; plus, you'll be grounded for the duration of those two weeks." She added, "That's for what you've been doing to him lately, even after we told you not to. So you better start behaving if you want a chance at this sister thing."

Kate nodded without a word; she felt it was only fair. At least they weren't actually sending her back home for good. She missed her parents; but there, she was lonely and she knew she'd miss her ' _brothers and sister'_. She smiled; it sounded nice.

She did have siblings.

.

.

. FINI!

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: OK, this is it... No, seriously, this is it for this one! I'd love to hear what you think and thanks a lot for your comments; requests and support.
> 
> .
> 
> .
> 
> And I still own nothing but my mistakes and the plot of my stories!


End file.
